Best classic sports cars

Phoebe Wall Howard Detroit Free Press Published 4:10 p.m. UTC Aug 8, 2018 When Samuel Crawford's grade-school teacher asked her students what they wanted to do when they grew up, his classmates said they wanted to be doctors, lawyers and accountants. Sam said he wanted to build Mustangs, and his classmates laughed. "The '64 Mustang had just come out," Crawford said. "All I could think about was that brand new pony car." Of his 31 years at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant, Crawford, has spent the last nine putting racing stripes on Mustangs. Today, he will join thousands of Ford workers celebrating production of the 10 millionth Mustang. "I do what I said I wanted to do," he said. "I didn't know how they were built, but I knew I wanted to be a part of it. And I have worked on 4,000 or 5,000 Mustangs." The iconic vehicle has been America's best-selling sports car in the last half century and the world's top selling sports car three years … [Read more...] about 10 millionth Mustang shatters sports car record; Ford to celebrate

Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Curbside Classic, The Detroit News, and Motoring Con Brio. Saab Sonett II V4 – A Noisy Little Footnote To Automotive History — Curbside Classic Not the best Saab ever, nor the best sports car, but it was special on its own. The Saab Sonett's impact on the automotive world was somewhat similar to my encounter with this one at an intersection. By the time I heard its distinctive arrhythmic exhaust, turned and expressed my surprise, fumbled for and aimed my camera, the Sonett's odd-fire V4 was already revving up, ready to pull away to another obscure footnote to automotive history. But if you've ever spent time in one, the memory will not so readily disappear. Fiat Chrysler future will be clearer when debt mountain is moved — The Detroit News Let's talk about the big elephant in the room at Fiat-Chrysler. But critics wonder if this … [Read more...] about The Saab Sonett Was The Unsung Hero Of The Sports Car World

A few weeks ago, with our annual pilgrimage down to Le Mans beckoning, Ben and I appeared to be a little lacking in the transport department. Our mighty Caddy van is all well and good for your average Sunday Service, but what we needed for the journey south was an estate to lug our gear, something that could eat up the motorway miles and wouldn't magnify every decibel of road noise with its cavernous interior. So when Jaguar offered an XF Sportbrake R-Sport the answer was, of course, a resounding yes. Estate? Check. Continent crosser? Yep. Rather lovely? Bingo. Having collected the Jag on Wednesday night in preparation for an early start on Thursday morning, it was time to get acquainted with it in some super fun rush hour traffic. It turns out the Jag is quite suited to city life - estates always feel fairly large, and this was no different, but because of the copious amount of glass, visibility is never an issue. A very welcome trait when trying to avoid lunatics damaging a car … [Read more...] about PH Footnote: 24hr warrior best as wagon

Register for our free newsletterOver the years, there have been loads of amazing car movies, ranging from police chases and post-apocalyptic mania to motorsport biopics and epic heists. We’ve trawled through these films that have been enjoyed by countless thousands of cinemagoers to bring you our list of the seven best car movies ever made. Bullitt In Bullitt, king of cool Steve McQueen plays loose cannon police officer Lieutenant Frank Bullitt.The plot of the film involves Bullitt being tasked with protecting a defector from the Chicago mob, so he can testify at a hearing on organised crime. The 1968 thriller features a number of epic scenes, including assassination attempts and a gunfight on an airport runway, but the highlight is undoubtedly the car chase with Bullitt in his Ford Mustang GT and two baddies in a Dodge Charger R/T. This showdown on the streets of San Francisco between two legendary American muscle cars has become one of the most iconic movie scenes of all time, … [Read more...] about Are these the seven best car movies ever made?

PUBLISHED: 18:00 11 May 2018 Steve Shaw The classic and supercar annual event at The Hoste in Burnham Market. Picture: Ian Burt Archant 2018 Some of the world’s finest cars have been making their way to north Norfolk for this year’s annual supercar event at The Hoste hotel. The classic and supercar annual event at The Hoste in Burnham Market. Picture: Ian Burt Millions of pounds worth of cars have been turning heads during the annual classic and supercar event, which took place on Thursday and Friday at the Hoste hotel and Beauty Spa in Burnham Market. It marked the ninth year for the event, which attracts more than 30 of Britain’s rarest classic cars as well as unique supercars. They are estimated to be worth a total of £20m and include well-known brands such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Aston Martin. On Friday prizes were presented in numerous categories, including Best Pre-War Classic, Best Modern Sports Car and Best Modern Saloon and Coupe. … [Read more...] about Some of Britain’s rarest classic cars go on display in Burnham Market

Register for our free newsletterYes, conventional cars are all well and good, but sometimes rare, limited-edition models just tickle our fancy a little more. Ultra-sought after and therefore a little more special than ‘regular’ models these cars have consistently set the motoring world alight. These aren’t just high-end cars, either. Some limited-edition cars have appeared at the lower end of the price range – but are still just as memorable as top-price models. Toyota Yaris GRMN We’re kicking things off strongly with this – the Toyota Yaris GRMN. Based on the tiny Yaris city car, the GRMN takes things in a sportier direction courtesy of beefed-up brakes, suspension and steering. The engine is a supercharged 1.8-litre too, and this gives the little GRMN a 0-60mph time of 6.3 seconds. However, this limited-run Yaris isn’t all about power – it’s the way this thing corners which makes it quite so impressive. Audi R8 RWS Audi’s … [Read more...] about Here are the best limited-edition cars of all time

At its core, driving is simply a means of getting from point A to point B. Performance cars, however, turn this otherwise banal task into something to be enjoyed. The best performance cars offer more than just fast straight-line acceleration. Sharp steering, memorable handling, and faithful braking are critical contributors to an overall package of thrilling driving dynamics. And while performance can sometimes bring certain compromises when it comes to comfort, there are choices in this category that are accommodating enough to serve as excellent daily drivers. Each year, our staff and contributors vote for the Daily News Autos Awards, which single out the best vehicles in a range of categories. Below, we've shared our winner in the performancecar class and we’ve listed four recommended alternatives in alphabetical order just in case our top pick doesn’t meet your requirements for performance. All prices include destination charges. If you're in the market for a … [Read more...] about These five performance cars are our favorite ones to drive

Location, location, location goes the property buying mantra. Well, it's a pretty darn good formula for siting a new showroom, too. Renaissance Classic Sports Cars is on the Portsmouth Road, just outside Ripley - a stone's throw from the A3, and virtually smack bang in the middle of the Surrey stockbroker belt. At first glance, the smart-looking building it occupies seems purpose-built for the business of selling fast, sought-after cars, but has in fact spent most of its life housing a Porsche 911 race team - David Ashburn's Trackspeed. Despite its polished appearance, two years ago Renaissance Classics didn't exist. Its founders, the father and son team of Keith and James Sohl, were still busy running the Sutton Tennis Academy at Rosehill Park. Going from one to the other has been a proverbial rollercoaster - not just for the speed at which it has occurred, but also because the end was not necessarily in sight at the beginning. Having sold the 17-court facility in late 2016, the … [Read more...] about Renaissance Classics: PH Meets

By Michael T. Lynch, William Edgar, Ron Parravano MBI PUBLISHING COMPANY Hardcover, 10×10, 172 pages, Illustrated Black & White and Color Published October 1998 As this book’s co-authors, Lynch, Parravano and I won the Motor Press Guild’s 1998 Dean Batchelor Award “in recognition of outstanding achievements by automotive writers.” Since then, the critically acclaimed work has sold widely throughout the world. Carroll Shelby writes in his foreword: “I was afraid nobody would write about how much fun we had racing sports cars back in the ‘50s, let alone go out and find pictures of it and put it all in one book. The book that Lynch and Edgar and Parravano have done is the best of what can be printed of that era.” Vintage Racecar Journal called it “a stunning study of not only the history of sports car racing in the 1950s, but also of the people and personalities that shaped the future of American racing.” Classic … [Read more...] about American Sports Car Racing in the 1950s (the book)

Welcome to true-blue petrolhead territory. This is where incredible outright grip and pace, vivid driver engagement and thrill, supreme handling poise and trackday-ready specification and purpose all abide. This is the home of our hardcore sports car top ten. You’ll like it here.The cars we’re saluting are genuine immortals of speed and excitement. Some of them are so exciting, in fact, they don’t really belong on the road at all – though all are road-legal, with numberplates. But all are cars you’d be in the market for if you wanted a money-no-object trackday tool to enjoy through the year’s summer months – and something you could drive home in afterwards.Here we recognise and rank both current production machines and those who’ve gone off sale but have yet to be replaced, making them an enduringly valid dynamic benchmark for the class even though they’re not still in production. That’s because sports cars as special as … [Read more...] about Top 10 best hardcore sports cars 2018